


Sherlolly 14: John

by George_Sand



Series: George_Sand Sherlolly Series 1 [14]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: "love", Bolliger, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Gen, John approves of Sherlock and Molly, Mantle, Shopping, ribs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 13:05:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9608726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/George_Sand/pseuds/George_Sand
Summary: John approves of Sherlock and Molly's relationshipPart 14 of George_Sand Sherlolly Series 1.  Please read in order, they build on each other.John’s eyebrows fly up and he almost trips over the last stair - Did Sherlock just call Molly “Love”???





	

**Author's Note:**

> Bolliger, S.A., Kneubuehl, B.P., Thali, M.J. et al. Forensic Sci Med Pathol (2016) 12: 394.  
> Stabbing energy and force required for pocket-knives to pierce ribs

John kicks gently on the door at 221 Baker Street, hands full of shopping bags, hoping Mrs. Hudson will open it.  She does, wearing perhaps the most enthusiastic smile he’s ever seen. 

She says “They’re upstairs.  It’s it wonderful?!  How Molly puts up with him I don’t know, but he’s almost…” she searches for a word “…tame now!”

John climbs to flat B curiously, carrying his load.  Sherlock and Molly have certainly been spending a lot of time together lately – Sherlock sometimes doesn’t come home until the next morning when they go out – but John almost never sees Molly at Baker Street.  They’re almost always at her flat, for obvious reasons. 

John can hear Sherlock’s voice resonating down the corridor, reading aloud, “Longitudinally oriented stabs, Love, showed complete piercing of the ribs at approximately 11 Joules…blah, blah, blah…transversely oriented stabs up to 16 Joules.” 

John’s eyebrows fly up and he almost trips over the last stair - Did Sherlock just call Molly “Love”???  He pauses for a moment to process.

John hears Molly’s pleasant voice, “Right, but it still won’t be very accurate.  Ours don’t have any underlying tissues to provide comparative resistance.” 

The door to the flat is ajar and John nudges it open to find a wholly unexpected sight. Sherlock and Molly are nestled, quite cozily, together on the couch!  Sherlock is sitting sideways, leaning against the arm; Molly is between his legs, reclining on his chest.  Although John is well aware that they are sexually active, this unexpected sight is enough to make him drop the shopping.  Milk, peas, beans and jam thump heavily to the floor.  Sherlock’s use of a term of endearment and his casually close contact with another human being are difficult for John to fathom, even when seeing them with his own eyes.

John watches Sherlock visibly tense at the sound of the food hitting the floor, as if Molly’s weight on his chest has suddenly knocked the wind out of him.  He puts down the article he was reading.  His eyes meet John’s and flash from confusion to embarrassment to defiance all in one moment.  After a beat, Sherlock methodically relaxes his back, then his shoulders, then his neck.  Never breaking eye contact with John, Sherlock then deliberately takes Molly’s hand and begins stroking and caressing the tendons on the back, slowly and gently.  Familiarly and possessively.  And somehow, John knows that Sherlock has just taken an emotional leap.  Sherlock has chosen not to physically distance himself from Molly under John’s gaze.  He has even chosen to initiate a seemingly meaningless, yet somehow monumentally intimate act in front of John when he takes Molly’s hand.  John knows that Sherlock, who once called sentiment a defect, had chosen to open his heart to Molly, and was now allowing John, an outsider, to see his love for her.  John is amazed at the performance and shows his approval, even congratulations, with a broad smile.  John’s eyes then meet Molly’s as she smiles back, bashfully triumphant.  

Molly says “Hi John,” then blushes and turns her head to nuzzle shyly into Sherlock’s chest.  But John’s accepting, if startled, smile makes her comfortable.   She knows that he approves of their relationship, and of her.

Then, the moment is over and she says, “So we need a Swiss Army knife and a Schnitzmesser.  John, you probably have a Swiss Army knife – “ 

Sherlock cuts in, “He does, usually in to top drawer of his night table, but currently in the right-hand pocket of the trousers in the dirty clothes hamper – “

Molly continues, “ – but we’ll have to find a Schnitzmesser.” 

John, un-phased says conversationally, “Right, who are we killing today, then?” and nods his head toward the mantle. “Sherlock’s Schnitzmesser is currently impaling the mail.” 

John bends to collect the shopping.  As he enters the kitchen and sees the dining table, he sees two large bundles in butcher paper.  He exclaims, “Are these pigs?”  

“Young adult porcine ribs, John, two whole pigs could hardly fit on the table.” 

John bites back a retort and only says, “Why?” as his eyes slide over two white lab coats slung over chair backs. One small, one large. 

Molly says, “We’re trying to re-create some data in a Bolinger article, about the force needed to stab through ribs with pocket knives.  I had an autopsy a few days ago where the stab wounds didn’t seem to match the description of events.  I found Bolinger’s article and Sherlock suggested we conduct our own experiment.”

Sherlock begins, “A man’s alibi depends on it…”

And John rolls his eyes and says, in sync, “…it’s for a case!  Please don’t tell me you’ll have a glass of wine afterward and call it a date. 

Molly smiles, “No, we’re going to dinner afterward and calling _that_ a date.”

“Is it a date if only one of you eats?” says John in mock puzzlement, then, “I won’t expect Sherlock home tonight.”  He starts putting away the shopping, and as he shelves the jam hears the Schnitzmesser being wrenched from the mantle. 

**Author's Note:**

> This work has not been beta-ed, and I feel like this one is particularly rough, so please provide constructive criticism!


End file.
